SAIL appoints MN Dasturco as consultant for SSP expansion

Steel Authority of India Limiteds Salem Steel Plant signed an agreement with MN Dastur & Company (P) Ltd, appointing them as the consultant cum project manager for the expansion projects of the plant envisaged at an indicative cost of INR 1553 crores.

The 5 year consultancy agreement was signed on January 15th 2007 by Mr PM Balasubramanian executive director on SSP and Mr S Das Gupta CMD of Dasturco.

MN Dasturco won the contract against the global tendering process to provide consultancy services to SSP in the areas of contract management, design & engineering and project management for installation of a new steel melting and continuous casting facilities to produce 180,000 tonnes per annum of stainless steel slabs, expansion of the existing Cold rolling complex to enhance the production of cold rolled stainless steel from 65,000 tonnes per annum to 146,000 tonnes per annum, installation of an additional roll grinding machine for hot rolling mill for enhancing the production to 370,000 tonnes per annum of hot rolled coils, up gradation of the existing Sendzimir mills for quality and productivity improvements and installation of the necessary utilities and auxiliary services like Air separation unit etc.

With the completion of the expansion, SSP will become an integrated steel plant through backward integration, overcome its existing constraints of sourcing stainless steel slabs and will become competitive to improve its market share both in domestic and export markets.

TATA Steel acquires ferroalloy unit Rawmet Ferrous

TATA Steel will acquire 100% stake in an unlisted Kolkata based ferroalloys manufacturing unit Rawmet Ferrous Industries for undisclosed sum. The agreement was signed between TATA Steel, IMR Metallurgical Resources which holds 66.46% equity stake and Rawmet Commodities which holds 12.48% equity stake.

TATA Steel in a statement said On conclusion of the above transaction, the board of Rawmet Ferrous Industries will be reconstituted to include representatives of the company.

Rawmet has a ferroalloy plant near Cuttack consisting of two 16.5 MVA semi closed electric arc furnace having a capacity of producing around 50,000 tonnes of high carbon ferrochrome per annum.

Rawmet Ferrous Industries is also planning to set up a ferroalloy plant along with a waste based power plant and a coke oven battery at Anantapur village in Cuttack district. The facility will be implemented in 4 phases at an investment of INR 326.50 crore.

Orissa CM to hold talks with agitating Kalinga Nagar tribals

Kalinga Times reported that Mr Naveen Patnaik chief minister of Orissa said that his Government was ready to hold discussions with the tribals of Kalinga Nagar to put an end to their ongoing road blockade agitation.

Mr Patnaik said that his government was keen to discuss the issue with the Janmanch leaders at the earliest but did not specify the date when the meeting will be held but maintained that the High Court order of clearing the road blockade could not be linked to such talks.

Secretary of the Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch had written a letter to Mr Patnaik on Saturday expressing the organizations readiness for a meaningful and sincere discussion that can lead to an appropriate settlement of the issue.

The Janmanch has been continuing with the road blockade since January 2 last year when 13 tribals were killed in police firing while opposing construction of the boundary wall for the proposed steel plant of TATA Steel. Strongly opposing displacement of people in Kalinga Nagar due to industrialization, the Janmanch has been demanding action against the officials who were present at the time of the police firing. They are also insisting for withdrawal of cases registered against the local tribals involved in the anti-industry campaign.

Central government objects to iron ore license to POSCO

It is reported that the union mines ministry has raised several objections to the proposal of Orissa government recommending grant of prospecting license to POSCO India for Khandadhar iron ore mines in Sundergarh district of Orissa, reported to have about 200 million tonnes of reserves.

Orissa government had made the recommendations favoring POSCO India, overriding 131 applicants, including state owned Orissa Mining Corporation and central governments Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd both of which had applied for this deposit much earlier.

POSCOs application was considered for recommendation for grant in preference to all other prior applications for special reasons. The state government mentioned in its recommendation letter that POSCO would invest $12 billion in the project and quoting a National Council for Applied Economic Research mentioning that the central and the state governments are likely to get tax revenue of INR 92,100 crore and INR 77,870 crore respectively, over a period of 35 years.

Orissa government also wrote that POSCO has 25 years of long experience in development of minerals like iron ore and coal in Australia, Canada and Brazil, hence, after examination of all the prior applications and taking into account the special knowledge and experience, financial resources, nature and quality of the technical staff employed or to be employed and the investment proposed to be made in the mines, port and industry by POSCO India, the state government proposes to grant prospecting license to POSCO India Ltd whose PL application was received later in preference to the applications received earlier and more so, because the development of iron ore in the area applied for will be done by POSCO India in a greater scientific, systematic and efficient manner with the help of their vast technical expertise, experience and huge finance resource base.

This is likely to put Orissa government in a tight spot, as these objections from central government would derail its plans.

TRL inaugurates manufacturing unit in China

TATA Refractories Limited has set up a new plant at Bayuquan in Lioning Province in the north eastern part of China to manufacture 30,000 tonnes per annum of Magnesia Carbon refractories with a capital investment of INR 37 crore.

Mr CD Kamath MD of TRL inaugurated the plant on December 28th 2006 which coincided with the birthday of group chairman Mr Ratan N Tata. The plant has been commissioned at a record time of exactly eight months.

The unit has been set up to leverage the advantages due to proximity to raw material sources and to avail of the low manufacturing cost structure of the Chinese economy and would cater to clients worldwide.

Vibrant Gujarat ropes in INR 449,003 crores investment

Mr Narendra Modi chief minister of Gujarat announced that a total of 330 announcements had been made or MoUs signed promising investments to the tune of INR 449,003 crore during the 2 day Vibrant Gujarat: Global Investors' Summit-2007 concluded last weekend.

This included 308 MoUs, worth investments of INR 343,784 crore and 22 announcements were also made during the summit to make investments to the tune of INR 105,219 crore.

List of Mous signed

Investment in INR crores

List of announcements made

Investment in INR crores

Arcelor Mittal's Orissa project facing protest from landowners

Moneycontrol.com reported that Arcelor Mittals MOU for 12 million tonne steel plant at Keonjhar district of Orissa is also beginning to face difficulties like other mega projects.

The report cites an affected tribal as saying that "We will not allow Mittal Steel to come up here. We will not give away our lands as they are our only source of livelihood. No matter what money the government or Mittal Steel gives we will fight against it till the end."

Angry villagers from the 17 villages recently staged a protest rally to Keonjhar District Collectors office demanding that their land should not be acquired for the Mittal Steel plant. Mr BB Mohapatra collector of Keonjhar said "In the memorandum they gave us, they demand that since it is a multi crop fertile irrigated land this should not be handed over for the project."

SREI Infrastructure ties up with EBRD for Russia

SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd has announced that it will shortly enter into a strategic partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for an investment by the EBRD in the equity of SREI Russia and extension of credit lines to support the business of the overseas Company.

SREI has set up its construction equipment leasing operation is Russia in the latter half of 2005 and plans to scale up businesses by rapidly entering the strategic infrastructure space in the region which today is experiencing a boom. SREI's immediate plan would be to extend its presence from Moscow to St Petersburg and other regions in Russia. It has recently diversified successfully into the growing oil and gas sector by structuring and financing work over rigs which will be deployed in West Siberia.

EBRD, owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, aims to foster the transition from centrally planned to market economies in countries from Central Europe to Central Asia. The Bank is the largest single investor in Eastern and Central Europe and mobilizes significant foreign direct investment beyond its own financing.

CCCMCs reference prices for Indian iron ore

The China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters has released on Jan 15th 2007 the average reference prices for import transactions of Fe 63.5% Indian iron ore concluded last week.

The change is wrt to the prices posted on January 8th 2007.

The CCCMC reference prices are average prices for import transactions of Fe 63.5% Indian iron ore concluded the week prior to issuance date of such reference prices. The reference price practice is intended to regulate the domestic trading of Indian iron ore and avoid speculations on the raw material.

Vedanta declares surge in EBIDTA in October December quarter

It is reported that Vedanta Resources has posted a sharp increase in third quarter underlying profit on strong commodity prices and metal output increases. It announced that its EBITDA increased by 174% YoY to a record USD724 million in October to December 2006 on revenue of USD1.76 billion up by 81% YoY.

Vedanta said in a statement "Production across all metals in India was significantly higher than the preceding quarter and in the corresponding prior quarter mainly because of the contribution from newly commissioned projects.

For the reporting period, its Aluminium production was up by 78.2% to 253,000 tonnes as output the new Korba II smelter has fully stabilized, while refined zinc production rose by 31.8% to 253,000 tonnes. Copper production fell in Zambia after being impacted by environmental issues but this was balanced out by an increase in Indian and Australian output which totaled 351,000 tonnes of cathode and rods.

UGSL increases price of galvanized steel

ET reported that Uttam Galva Steels Limited has increased prices of its galvanized steel products by INR 1,500 per tonne with immediate effect.

UGSL sells about 70% of its galvanized steel and 50% of its cold rolled steel production in the export market to over 120 countries. UGSL is also an established player in the domestic market for the supply of CRCA to automobiles, white goods, general engineering and drums & barrels segments and galvanized products for construction segment.

ABB India to set up network managing solution in Karnataka

ABB Ltd has announced that its Indian unit has been awarded a turnkey contract valued at INR 186 crores (by Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd to implement an integrated network manager solution which will monitor and control 830 main transmission and distribution substations spread across the state of Karnataka.

The scope of the project includes design, engineering, supply, installation, testing & commissioning for Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition, Energy Management System, Distribution Management System and is expected to he completed in around 24 months.

KPTCL is Karnatakas leading power transmission utility and serves over 11 million customers across the state.

BaoSteel Group appoints Mr Xu Lejiang as new chairman

BaoSteel Group Corp, Chinas largest steel producer, has appointed Mr Xu Lejiang as chairman, replacing the retired Ms Xie Qihua, the group's listed arm Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd said in a statement.

Mr Xu was the BaoSteel Group's general manager and a board member of Baoshan Iron & Steel since 2000. In May 2006, Mr Xu took over ms Xie's position as chairman of the listed company.

Mr Ai Baojun will take over Mr Xu's position as the general manager of Baosteel Group. Mr Ai was Baosteel Group's vice general manager and chief accountant since 1998.

Ms Xie, often called iron lady in China, has been repeatedly been nominated as one of the world's most influential businesswomen by various business magazines although she seldom gave interviews to the media. Ms Xie joined Baosteel in 1978 when the company was founded. She became company president in 1994 and later the chairwoman.

CVRD settles 2007 pellet prices with the Japanese steelmakers

World's largest iron ore producer Companhia Vale do Rio Doce has concluded the blast furnace pellet price negotiations for 2007 with the Japanese steelmakers including Nippon Steel Corporation, JFE Steel Corporation, Sumitomo Metals, Kobe Steel and Nisshin Steel.

As an outcome of these negotiations, the prices for blast furnace pellets, Fob Tubar and Ponta da Madeira, increased by 5.28% relatively to the 2006 reference prices.

Chinese billet levels on the rise

Chinese domestic billet prices jump up by great amounts, bolstered by strong demands from section steel makers.

Q235 grade 150 billet increased to RMB 2820 per tonne, 20MnSi material to RMB 2870 per tonne in North China' Tangshan up by RMB 40 per tonne than last week. While South China's Jiangsu province sees RMB 2900-2920 per tonne for Q235 150 and RMB 2920 to RMB 2940 per tonne for 20MnSi material.

Export offers have moved up to USD 420 to USD 425 per tonne FOB levels for Q235 grade120 billets, USD 430 to 435 per tonne for 20MnSi, which compares with USD 415 per tonne and USD 425 per tonne in early January. At the same time, a Shangdong based steel maker is offering its Q235 grade 150 billet at USD 425 per tonne FOB

Meanwhile Q235 billet export quotations to South East Asian advanced to USD 440 to 445 per tonne CFR, but customers just wish to bid down to USD 435 per tonne CFR.

(Source from.Mysteel.net)

MMKs production of metal products up by 11.2% YoY

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works produced 11.346 million tonnes of market metal products which represents an increase of 11.2% YoY as compared to 2005. MMKs increased by 9.4% YoY to 12.455 million tonnes in 2006 and production of rolled metal increased by 9.4% YoY to 12.06 million tonnes.

MMKs production of finished ore slid by 3.9% YoY to 1.468 million tonnes, and of coke by 1.4% YoY to 5.496 million tonnes. Production of agglomerate rose by 3.9% YoY to 10.75 million tonnes and of cast iron by 0.8% YoY to 9.733 million tonnes.

MMK shipped 5.275 million tonnes of metal products to export, which is 46.5% of the works' total shipment. In 2005, the export share in MMK's shipment of metal products totaled 49.9%. In 2006, MMK's share in all Russian steel smelting was 17.6%. MMK accounted for 20.4% of all Russian production of market metal products in December and for 19.5% in 2006.

China to reduce trade surplus in 2007

China Daily reported that Mr Bo Xilai, minister of commerce said China will encourage imports and restrict exports this year in a bid to balance trade and ease the concerns of trading partners and cutting the huge trade surplus is the priority task for 2007

He said if it grows at the same rate this year, the trade surplus will mount to USD 300 billion, which is likely to transform an economic problem into a political one and the yawning surplus with the United States and the European Union has strained China's foreign trade environment, triggering more frequent trade friction."

Mr Bo said an overly large trade surplus is not good for China's sustained economic growth therefore the government will decisively reduce exports of high energy consuming and low value added products to restructure the sector adding that to boost imports and that the government will relax restrictions and announce taxation and financial incentives.

He added that China can further increase the flexibility of its exchange rate if trade surpluses continue to mount.

Severstals steel output in 2006 up by 2.3% YoY

Severstal announced that its steel production grew 2.3% YoY in 2006 to 11 million tonnes. Severstal produced a total of 10 million tonnes of rolled products, which is 2.2% higher than in 2005. It also boosted production of sinter by 2.2% YoY and pig iron by 2.8% YoY.

Severstal said in a press release "The results were largely achieved through the completion of some large investment measures in the second half of 2006, which boosted output and ensured the manufacture of new types of high added value products that are in demand on various industrial markets."

J Mendes aiming for 7 million tonne iron ore output in 2007

BNamericas reported that Brazilian iron ore mining group J Mendes expects its output to reach 7 million tonnes in 2007 as compared to 5 million tonne sin 2006.

Mr Luciano Mendes Nogueira commercial manager told BNamericas In terms of sales, J Mendes targets 30% to markets abroad such as China and Europe, and the balance to the domestic market, but the group is intensifying more and more sales to markets abroad due to increasing demand. Mr Nogueira added that the need for the raw steelmaking material is strong in Europe.

J Mendes, based in Minas Gerais state, was founded in 1966. J Mendes operates3 iron ore mines in Brazil's southeastern state of Minas Gerais, while a fourth mine is due to start operations next month.

China's steel consumption growth forecast at 15% in 2007

China's steel consumption in domestic market will keep a stable growth of around 15%, as predicted at the 2006 to 2007 steel market situation analysis conference, jointly held by the Department of Market Operation Regulation of MOC and China Logistic Information Center.

Most attendees of the conference contend there are favorable elements to support the steel market in 2007, mainly, growing national economy and relatively sound international environment. In 2007, the GDP growth is expected to keel 10% and fixed asset investment to hold over 20% in China, in addition to some 20% gain in import and export trade value; while from the external environment, the world economy growth can sustain 4%.

The conference further probed in 2006 steel market, concluding that steel consumption in 2006 may post around 420 million tonne, increasing 17% YOY the market is considered getting more mature and rational; more over, import and export trade grows vigorously and labels China a net exporter of steels from a net importer.

The conference highlighted 2 problems in the steel sector, the first one being that steel output keeps growing rapidly resulting in oversupply as Chinas output in 2006 is estimated at 460 million tonne up by 25% YOY and the second being surge in export.

(Sourced from Mysteel.net)

Russia's Evraz increases steel production in 2006 by 16.3%

Russia's Evraz Group has increased its steel production in 2006 by 16.3% YoY to 16.115 million tonnes. Its production of cast iron rose by 11.4% YoY to 12.754 million tonnes and rolled products production grew by 19.6% YoY to 14.457 million tonnes.

In the mining division, coking coal was up 38% YoY to 743,000 tonnes in 2006 from 538,000 tonnes in 2005 and steam coal production almost doubled to 99,000 tonnes in 2006 from 50,000 tonnes a year ago.

Evraz, a leading vertically integrated mining company, comprises three major steel mills and several mining and coal producing assets. It produces more than 20% of the world's primary vanadium products.

Qatar Steel to take 25% stake in GIIC

It is reported that the board of directors of Qatar Steel Company has approved the acquisition of 25% stake in Gulf Industrial Investment Company in Bahrain.

GIIC owns and operates a pelletization plant with a current production capacity of 4.6 million tonnes of DRI pellets and is in the process of expanding its production capacity to 11 million tonnes per annum within the next few years.

GIIC is one of Qascos main suppliers of raw materials of iron ore pellets. GIIC produces and supplies direct reduction billets grade iron oxide pellets to major direct reduction iron plants mostly located within the Gulf region.

MMX Amapa gets permit to construct Port at Santana

MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA announced that its subsidiary MMX Amapa Mineracao Ltda has been granted a permit for construction and operation of a multi purpose private port terminal in the Port Area of Santana in Amapa State from the GD of the National Agency of Waterway Transportation.

As per release, the private Santana Terminal is an integral part of the MMX Amapa System, encompassing an iron ore mine which is currently under construction, Amapa Railway which is being operated under concession by a subsidiary of MMX and a pig iron and semi finished mill.

Komatsu wins mining equipment orders worth YEN 32 billion

Nikkei, without citing sources, reported that Komatsu Ltd has won mining equipment orders totaling some YEN 32 billion from a Mexican gold miner and a Chinese coal producer.

The order from a Mexican unit of Canada's Goldcorp Inc, worth around YEN 18 billion, entails supply of a total of 64 units of large mining equipment, including dump trucks and bulldozers, starting next month.

The YEN 14 billion order to supply 45 large dump trucks to a subsidiary of China National Coal Group Corp was won jointly with Toyota Tsusho Corp.

Chelyabinsk Zinc secures exploration rights for Amurkoye

It is reported that Russias largest zinc producer Chelyabinsk Zinc has secured a 25 year license to explore and develop the Amurkoye deposit, which is believed to hold reserves of 1 million tonnes of zinc ore with a high metal content of 2.64%, earlier this year following approval from the Russian Federal Agency for Mining.

Mr Sergei Moiseyev, chairman of Chelyabinsk said that it plans to spend about USD 100 million to produce 30,000 tonne per year by 2010 with a target of increasing to 50,000 tonne per year in 2011.

Arkley Capital owned Chelyabinsk Zinc plans to increase production capacity to annual 200,000 tonnes within three years compared as against last years production of 150,000 tonnes.

FerrAus identifies new iron ore zones in East Pilbara

FerrAus announced that the new targets plus interpreted extensions of known mineralized areas of interest at the Robertson Range project, could take the Company's overall resource base there to between 40 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes. It said that 2 new iron ore targets identified by FerrAus Limited in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia could add up to 20 million tonnes to the it's resource base at its flagship Robertson Range project.

The targets were identified by FerrAus after a ground gravity survey completed last month returned what the company described as results exceeding expectations. The survey also found that the known South Zone deposit is much larger than has been identified to date by drilling, and remains open in a southwest direction.

Mr David Turvey MD of FerrAus said At this level, Robertson Range becomes robust enough to support a mine production rate of around 3 million tonnes per year to 5 million tonnes per year, improving the overall commercial scope of this project. Mr Turvey said the scope of the newly identified targets was such that FerrAus had scheduled an urgent 10,000 meter Reverse Circulation drilling program to commence in March, to prove up the zones.

Last November, FerrAus announced a JORC compliant indicated resource of 18.4 million tonnes grading 58.8% iron at Robertson Range, sufficient the company said then, to provide a platform for mine planning and development.

FerrAus Limited is a junior exploration company based in Australia with its focus on the discovery and production of ferrous raw materials, including iron ore, manganese, and nickel. The company has four exploration licenses located in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia with good potential for iron ore and manganese deposits.

Kuzbassrazrezugols coal out in 2006 put up by 2.6% YoY

Russian coal giant Kuzbassrazrezugol Coal Company has increased its coal output in 2006 by 2.6% YoY to 41.36 million tonnes as against 40.3 million tonnes in 2005. With respect to the coal extracted by Tayezhny pit being under the KRU control in 2006 the figures rose to 44.13 million tonnes.

Kuzbassrazrezugols shipment of the coal reached 40.1 million tonnes with exports accounting for 18.25 million tonnes.

Moravia Steel interested in Mittal Steels Huta Bankowa

Euro weekly citing Mr Tomas Chrenek owner of Moravia Steel, the owner of Czech steelworks Trinecke zelezarny, reported that Moravia Steel is interested to buy 100% of Mittal Steels Huta Bankowa in Poland.

Mittal Steel had bought the 100% stake in Huta Bankowa.in 2004, which produces about 100,000 tonnes of steel a year and may like to sell it now to fulfill the conditions imposed by the European Commission while allowing Mittal Steel to take over Arcelor last year.

Court to rule on CVRDs Goro nickel project on February 2nd

It is reported that a French court will rule on the appeal by CVRD Inco against the halt on part of the giant Goro nickel project in New Caledonia on 2nd February.

CVRD Inco has been appealing that court order but in the interim has received permission from local authorities to maintain its activities ahead of the rainy season.

The original ruling ordered the company to pay EUR 30,000 per day for each day it continued to clear land at Kwe Ouest, an area of the project ear marked for the tailings facility.

The New Caledonian activist group, Rheebu Nuu, brought the original case against the Goro project.

Jinchuan to make treatment plant to process New Caledonian nickel ore

Chinese local media, citing Mr Andre Dang CEO of New Caledonian mining company SMSP reported that it has signed a MoU with Chinese nickel producer Jinchuan to construct a treatment plant to process SMSPs laterite ore production in Australia due to local issues of waste storage in the French Overseas Territory.

SMSP is among the worlds largest producers and exporters of nickel laterite ore with customers in Australia, Japan and Ukraine. It has been supplying the Chinese market since last June through a deal with Chinas Ningbo.

Outokumpu Technology to expand Hunan Zhuye Torchs plant

It is reported that Chinese Outokumpu Technology has entered into EUR 30 million contracts with the leading zinc producer, Hunan Zhuye Torch Metals Company Limited for the design and delivery of a zinc plant expansion by 100 000 tonnes of zinc per year. The plant is estimated to be operational by July 2008.

Outokumpu Technology's delivery includes the engineering of a zinc plant with new Atmospheric Direct Leaching Process, iron precipitation and solution purification processes, main equipment supplies as well as supervision of installation and commissioning.

Outokumpu Technology has developed a new process for zinc concentrates, called Atmospheric Direct Leaching Process, which eliminates the conventional roasting phase in zinc processing.

As per report, Hunan Zhuye Torch Metals selected this process for its expansion because it is an environmentally sound way to produce zinc, it includes recycling of process residues and it represents the latest technology. A wider selection of zinc concentrates can be used as raw materials in the process.

Shanghai Futures Exchange may launch zinc trading soon

Interfax citing industry sources reported that the Shanghai Futures Exchange may launch zinc futures trading soon.

Mr Wang Jianjun GM of China's biggest zinc producer Zhu Zhou Smelter Company Limited said that "The contract will be launched in February or March this year, but the exchange needs to do more preparation, such as including member registration and product registration."

Mr Tong Leshen, director of the market information department at Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Association, which has a close relationship with the Shanghai Futures Exchange, said that "Zinc will be launched in the first half of this year, but the time table is not clear yet." The Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Association has a close relationship with the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

China became a net zinc importer in 2004 with 400,000 metric tonnes zinc per year in the past couple of years. China's net imports of zinc products, including mined output, or so called concentrates, were at 860,000 tonnes last year. Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. forecasts that the demand for zinc in China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal, may rise 56% by 2010.

Ukraine suggests increase in ferroalloy export prices

Platts reported that Ukrainian government has recommended that domestic ferroalloy producers for increasing prices of ferrosilicon and silicomanganese for exports.

As per report the prices for silicomanganese with carbon content less than 0.05% increased to EUR 650 per million tonne from EUR 630 per million tonne and the export of ferroalloys increased to 6.8% YoY.

The government suggested domestic producers boost prices for ferrosilicon with silicon content of 75% to USD 650 per million tonnes in January up from USD 585 per million tonne. Export prices of ferrosilicon with silicon content of 65% increase to USD 580 per million tonne, up from USD 495 per million tonne.

The government has also allowed exporters to increase export prices of silicomanganese, which has phosphorus content of 0.35%, to USD 600 per million tonne from USD 525 per million tonne, while prices of silicomanganese, which has phosphorus content of 0.5%, will increase to USD 580 per million tonne from USD 485 per million tonne.

At the same time, the government increased prices for silicomanganese exports to the European Union Export prices for high carbon silicomanganese, which has a carbon content of more than 0.5%, increased to EUR 510 per million tonne from EUR 490 per million tonne. Export prices for low carbon silicomanganese, which has carbon content less than 0.5%, were increased to EUR 600 per million tonne from EUR 580 per million tonne.

Russian coal export up by 14.7% YOY in 11 months

Russian federal customs service informed that the exports of the coal over during January to November increased by 14.7% YOY to reach 82.562 million tonnes as against 71.98 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2005, with CIS accounting 7.81 million tonnes.

In terms of value, during this period, the coal exports increased by 14.6% to reach USD 3.915 billion as compared to USD3.416 billion in January to November 2005.

On the other hand, 23.22 million tonnes of coal was imported up by 14.5% YoY, with CIS accounting for 23.19 million tonnes.

Mittal Steel Iasi invest in API grade tube testing facility

It is reported that Mittal Steel Iasi in Romania has invested USD 1.8 million in pipe testing equipment during 2006 for increasing testing capacity to 6 pipes per minute as compared to the previous capacity of 1 pipe every 2 minutes and the testing pressure level to 300 atmospheres as compared to 50 atmospheres reached by the old equipment.

According to a company press release, the investment would lead to a significant increase in total production volume, especially in the delivery of pipes used to transport petroleum and other fuel products.

American Petroleum Institute granted API certification to Mittal Steel Iasi in 2005.